Pad-mounting device for applying and distributing wax, oil, and other like material to floors and like surfaces



J. E. HORN March 23, 1948.

PAD-MOUNTING DEVICE FOR APPLYING AND DISTRIBUTING WAX, OIL

'AND OTHER LIKE MATERIAL TO FLOORS AND LIKE SURFACES Filed July 29 1944 2 She'etsSheet l IN VEN TOR. p714 2,438,338 PAD-MOUNTING DEVlCE FOR APPLYING AND DISTRIBUTING WAX, OIL

J. E. HORN March 23, 1948.

' AND OTHER LIKE MATERIAL TO FLOORS AND LIKE SURFACES Flled July 29, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

m ll 52E Patented Mar. 23,, 1948 PAD-MOUNTING DEVICE FOR APPLYING AND DISTRIBUTING WAX, OIL, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIAL -TO- FLOORS AND LIKE SURFACES.

Jacque E. Horn, New York, N. Y. Application July 29, 1944', SerialNo. 547,228 4 Claims. (01. 15-131) This invention relates to improvements in padmounting devices for applying and distributing wax, oil and other like material to floors and like surfaces.

In conventional waxing methods, a pad or mop of soft, non-scratching material is mounted on a base member, and a given amount of wax for a given surface is applied on the surface, either separately or through openings in the pad, and is then distributed by the pad or mopof soft material on the floor to polish the same. Many waxing materials are self-polishing or glossing and no rubbing is required, but in others the pad not only distributes the material but is used to rub it in and polish the surface, and in all cases, the wax hardens n the pad or mop, so that it is unsuitable for another use without a difiicult cleaning operation. In self-feeding devices, the wax is usually fed through ducts in the base member and thence to the surface to be polished, either to and through opening in a pad of soft material such as felt, or through spaces between strands of cotton, wool or like soft material. In all cases, the residual wax is left on the distributing or polishing pad-or mop and. in the mechanical distributing ducts after a single use and hardens in the fibres of such pad and ducts when the same is stored away, so that the mop or pad and the device becomes unsuitable for immediate use again until the pad is either thoroughly washed or renewed and. the wax-delivery openings or spaces again opened up.

It is one of the objects of this invention to eliminate the difiiculties above specified, and particularly to avoid and eliminate the use in a base member and/or pad or mop of open liquid-distributing and delivery ducts that become clogged during storage of the device.

Another object of this invention is in a machine of the type specified, to provide in combination with a suitable rigid base-member, a waxing or wax-applying pad of a poriferous spongy material, that though having a hard and rigid surface when dry, will be permeable to various types of wax now employed commercially as well as to other kinds or types of polishing materials; will, when wetted with such liquids possess natural ducts for the uniform distribution and application of such material to a surface to be treated, and will have and embody sufficient natural softness, when so wetted and permeated with the liquid material to permit application without scratching and thus to avoid or eliminate the use of distributing ducts in the mechanical parts of the apparatus, in combination with means for mounting said pad, and feeding material thereto.

Another object of my invention is to use,'in a device of the character specified, a pad of commercial cellulosethat has been blown or otherwisetreated to make it spongy in character.

r Another object of my invention is to provide in a device of the character specified means for mechanicallydistributing the material in cooperation with the natural distribution ducts of a pad of the type hereinabove specified.

Another object of this invention is to utilize a pad of the character specified in combination with means for excluding air from the pad when not in use and thus maintaining the same in condition for immediate use at all times.

Another object of my invention is to provide, in a device of the character specified, means for delivering to or supplying the pad with a regulated supply of the polishing or cleaning liquid.

Another object of this invention is to provide in cooperation with a pad having natural materialdistributing ducts of means for mechanically distributing the liquid material in such ducts and preferably comprising ribs for providing material-distributing grooves in the feed-contacting surface of said pad and for damming the material within said pad and retaining the same within proper limits therein.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises the features, structures, combinations and arrangement of parts herein described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my waxing and oiling device;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2; 1

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the device shown in Fig. 3 with the pad removed;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the device with a part broken away; 7

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation showing the pad enclosed in an air-excluding pan;

Fig. 7 is a section through the handle and an enlarged and fragmentary central part of the base member, and pad, showing the means for supply- I ing and regulating the supply of material to the Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2 showing a pad of sponge rubber applied to the base member; and

Fig. 9 is a similar section on the line 8-8 of outlet l3 at its center and a. perimetri'oa outside edge 14 which provides a seat for the flanges of a. pad-enclosing pan l5. 7

The pad-seating bottom surface [2 of the base member l0, isradapted to receive and serve as holder for a similarly-shaped pad N5 of suitable thickness releasably mounted thereon and adapted to be firmly retained in position when the depressed base surface is inverted ortfac'es downwardly to enable the bottom; surface ofthe. pad to be pressedagainst a floor or like surface: to be treated, and mounting or fastening means also is provided toenable ready release of the pad from the base member and" the reversal of the old pad or the mounting: of a new pad, when necessary. a

The pad 16 is 50 mounted as: to-haveone of its fiat surfaces, and, as shown, its top" surface 116- abutting said depressed surface l 2= so a's'to receive treating material passed through said orificelS.

Saidsurface l6 isporiferous but the material. is

partially distributed thereon and then passes into a highly-expansive and compressible b0 dy'porti'on I604 of suitable thickness: and porosity to further distributesuchmaterial and to provide a sub- 7 stantially unifform filmor layer of sucl'i material adjacent to the lower or bottom surface I622. Saidibottom surface l-G'b" when wettecI-I with the material will not leak, but is adapted to serve, when the pad is; pressed against a fiooror like surface to be treated as amaterial-apply-ingand spreading; surface. i

" The pad 'Hi i's pref'erabl y composed of a com- -mercially-available cellulose that has been treated to make the-same hig-hly'poriferous. The pad of such material is when dry, hard and 'relatively thin, but becomes; highly expansive and very soft when wettedwith a liquid, such aswax andnotonly willprovide the necessary natural channels and valvular ducts to distribute such material from the inner to the outer surfaces but because of itsnatural characteristics will ex:- pand: to more than 'doubleits dry thickness and will hold a large quantity of such material within its' bo-d y without leakage until 'itis compressed by pressure applied thereto. Upon the ap'plication of pressure, however, to said'{ outer bottom surface by applying or pressing thedevice against a floor or like surface, the natural ducts" 'will express and release and enable the spreading on menace or like surface of a thin, uniform film or layer of such material, the thickness or volume of" which film or layer may be increased or diminished inaccordancewith thepressure: applied and the quantity-oi material passedthrough thematerialorifice f3", through theoppositeupper face of the pad and into the body of the initially 'wetted' soft material. Upon the expressing; or release, pf, material at the lower surface, and the release of pressure thereon; outlet ducts at said surface automatically stoptheflow of mate'- .rial to prevent leakage and the pad-will reexpand to such additional material intoand through the top surface of its poriferous body portion. I have found also that when pressure is relieved by the lifting of the device free of the floor or like surface, the material within the pad will be occluded within the pores and ducts so thoroughly as to exclude from such occluded material sufil'cient air to cause a hardening of the wax or like treating material, and-the pad will retain its wetted, expanded, soft, and liquidrtaining condition for a long period of time. The device. may, therefore, after being used, be stored. if the periods between uses are not too long. A: pad of this material, when mounted as illustrated and-initially wetted or saturated with material will remain expanded and soft so long asi-ti's wetted with the material and if exposed to air will then: dry and harden at the outer surface, but I have found that upon the supplying of additional wax through the orifice l3, this outer surface of the pad will become soft and the pad will be made ready for immediate mean a floor; The-:usual washing and cleansing operation which is necessary with other types of mops; or pads may thus be eliminated.

The; pad It may be mountedin any suitable way thatwill. hold it securely in placeandready for use, and as shown, it is mounted on said bottom surface of thebasefso as to dependtherefrom by a-pa-ir of. bails l1 extending transversely across the. pad adjacent to-its' opposite ends; Angularly-disposed ends Ha of these bailspass through; slits 18 at the corners of therbase member I20; and: extendabove-the top surface thereof where fasteningmeans are provided; As shown; these ends ihave pivotally connected thereto-cams or eccentric fasteners l9.- which are manually movable byhandles 19" about their pivots 19a into frictional engagement with the top surface of the base to pull up and tighten or to release and loosenthe bails onthe ends of the pads below the base. member. In tightened or closed position, thev cams are locked in contact with the top ofthe base member and the bails are tightface of the base member and to leave afree. middle,, materialr-applying portion, 161) between the bails.

Notwithstandingthefact that thepad of cellulose. material hasv ,materia'l-retaining ,charace t'eristi'cs: as hereinabovedescribed. 1 preferably provide additional means for excludingjair from the pad as a whole,and.for. this: purpose, Ipreferablyprovidean air-excluding. pan l5 havinga shapeandsize similar to the base member and provided with flanges I5" adapted to engageiand closely fity'a, pan-seat formed by the outside perimetric; edges of the base member I 0 Obviously, when a pan of this type is properly ap; plied, air'willflbe thoroughly excluded and the device. may be stored for any suitable length of time and, will at alltimes, be ready forv immediate use by a mere removal of the pan. The pan [5 mayalso have means such as the .buttons 31)! onopposite.end-flangesfor mountingfon the bottom of thepan, a polishing cloth 28' that may be useful or necessary with some formsof wax -that" require rubbing:

While the pad-l6, mounted as aforesaid, will provide natural distributing channels, I prefer to combine therewith additional mechanical distributing means, and to this end I provide on the flat pad-seating surface i2 a plurality of ribs 20, preferably longitudinally-disposed, which, when the pad is tightened up upon said surface, will depress channels or grooves in the top contacting-surface of the pad, see Figs. 4, 8, and 9, and will assist in distributing the material passing through the outlet l3 and will also act as damming elements to prevent excessive movement or distributing of the material within the pad to the edges thereof.

In my said preferred embodiment, I also provide means for supplying to the pad IS a regulated supply of wax or like material and to this end my handle ii is preferably formed ofa hollow tube having a storage chamber 21 communicating with a valve-controlled supply-chamber 22. As shown, the tube ii is provided intermediate its ends with a partition 2") which separates the chambers 2i and 22 and has a valve seat 2ic into which an adjustable valve 22a, carried at the lower end of a valve-controlling rod Zia, is adapted to seat. As shown, the valverod 2ia is mounted in the cap 2id, extends through the chamber 2i, and is movable by adjustment of the cap 2id to cause the valve 22a to be seated and unseated in the valve seat 2ic. As illustrated, the valve-rod is provided with a head 2ie connected with the cap Md and the cap has a screw-threaded connection at 32 with the upper end of the tube H which enables adjusting movement of the valve 22a in relation to the valve seat 2ic. The supply-chamber 22 is preferably provided with a glass-lining member 23 and communicates with the outlet i3 through suitable channels in a universal joint. These channels comprise the axial longitudinal bore i3a, horizontal bore i3b, an aperture in a flat intermediate rubber washer 29, horizontal bore I30 and longitudinal bore i3d. A peep-hole 33 is preferably provided to the supply-chamber 22 and extends through the wall of the tube ii. This hole is glazed by the glass-lining member 23 so that a user may note when the material being used is exhausted to the level of said peephole.

The universal-joint is spherical in shape and is composed of two co-acting semi-spherical parts 25 and 26 suitably connected together. As

shown, the joint-member 25 is connected by a horizontal pivot pin 26:: to swing in a vertical arc of 90 degrees with its co-acting member 26 which is fastened to the base member i0 through a swivelling boss 26'. The joint-member 26 and boss 26' are fastened to the base member by providing on the boss 26' a threaded nipple 26a, passing the same through a bore 21 in the base member and securing the same by a nut 28 seated in a depression in the surface i2. 1 preferably limit the swivelling movement of the boss and handle by releasably locking the boss 26 to the base member in by a spring-pressed pin Bib urged by spring 3i to enter holes 3 la in the base in. In this way, the swivelling movement of the handle is limited and it may be locked against swivelling movement in one or more positions relatively to the base member, and the locking pin is readily releasable by a small, finger-em gageable knob on the pin 3ib. The joint-member 25 is, as shown, provided with a head 34 having an upwardly-extending screw-threaded shank 34 which is adapted to be engaged with internal screw-threads on the tube il.

The operation of the device will be obvious from the foregoing description.

I claim:

1. A pad-mounting device for applying and distributing liquid wax or oil and like liquid materials to floors or like surfaces, comprising a base member having on its bottom face a pad mounting surface provided with a material-outlet duct, a pad of absorptive poriferous spongy material mounted on said mounting surface and having a surface contacting and covering said material-outlet duct to absorb and distribute ma terial passing therethrough, transverse bails of rigid material mounted adjacent to the ends of said base member and extending across the surfaces of said pad at the opposite ends thereof, and means for pulling up and tightening said bails to cause the same to be deeply embedded in and to compress the ends of said pad while leaving a free material-applying portion between said bails.

2. A pad-mounting device for applying and distributing wax or oil and like liquid materials to floors or like surfaces, comprising a base member having on its bottom surface a pad-mounting surface provided with a material-outlet duct, a thick pad of highly absorptive, poriferous spongy material mounted on said mounting surface and having a surface contacting and covering said material-outlet duct to absorb and distribute material passing therethrough, transverse bails of rigid material mounted at the ends of said base member and extending across the surfaces of said pad at the opposite ends thereof, each of said balls having portions extendin through said base member and provided at their ends with pressure applying cams for pulling up and tightening said bails to cause the same to be deeply embedded in and to compress the ends of said pad while leaving a free material-applying portion between said bails.

3. A pad-mounting device for applying and distributing liquid wax or oil and like liquid materials to floors or like surfaces comprising a base member composed of a plate of rig-id ma terial provided with depending flanges extending perimetrically along the edges of said rigid plate to produce a pad seat having at its bottom portion a depressed substantially flat padmounting surface provided with an outlet duct for liquid material, a pad composed of a thick plate of compressible and absorptive, poriferous and spongy cellulose fitting within said seat and having edges contacting said depending flanges, said pad being provided with natural ducts for the distribution of liquid material and having opposite surfaces in substantially parallel planes, one of said surfaces contacting and covering said material-outlet duct to absorb material passing therethrough and being of a thickness adapted to distribute the material fed to said contactin surface through the pad to the opposite surface thereof, transverse bails of rigid material mounted within said seat at opposite ends thereof, and means for pulling up and tightening said bails to cause the same to be deeply embedded in and to compress the ends of said pad while leaving a free material-applying portion between said bails.

4. A pad-mounting device for applying and distributing liquid wax or oil and like liquid materials to floors or like surfaces, comprising a base member composed. of a plate of rigid ma terial provided with depending flanges extending ama s V distribution of liquid material and having oppo- 10 site surfaces insubstantially parallel planes, one of said surfaces contactingv and covering, said material-outlet duct toabsorb material passing therethroughand being of a thickness adapted to distribute the material fed to said contacting surface through the pad to the opposite surface thereof, transverse bails of rigid material mounted within said seat at opposite ends thereof, means for pulling up and tightening said bails to cause the same to be deeply embedded in and to compress the ends of said pad while leaving a free material-applying portion between said bails, said material-outlet being\ positioned at the center of the base plate and the said mounting surface being provided with ribs adapted to depressdistributionchannelsin the contacting surfaces of. the padand means for supplying aregulated amount of liquid matei rial to said material-outlet in the base. i

- JACQUE EL HORN.

REFERENCES [CITED The following references are of record in the 7 file of this patent:

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